Ryanair to offer cheap standing vertical seat

RYANAIR to offer discounted &quot;vertical seats&quot; and will charge passengers to use the bathroom.

NewsCoreJuly 2, 20109:54am

UK budget airline Ryanair is to offer discounted tickets for passengers willing to stand on flights.

Michael O'Leary, the Irish airline's chief executive, will fund the controversial move by charging customer to use the restroom during flights, reports the UK’s Daily Telegraph.

His proposed “vertical seats” would be available in a special standing-room only sections in the rear of commuter flights lasting an hour or possibly longer.

Tickets would cost between $7 and $14 per passenger, Mr OLeary said in TV interview.

Ryanair has already held talks with airline Boeing about fitting them into the rear of its 250 planes.

The seats will be tilted upright for passengers to lean against and will be fitted with seatbelts and a small cushion to support the lower back.

Safety testing for the new vertical seats will begin next year

The cost of adapting the Ryanair's 250 planes would be met by the introduction of a surcharge to use restrooms, which the airline hopes would also encourage passengers to use airport facilities before taking off.

Mr O'Leary says it will make the fleet lighter and more fuel-efficient, driving down costs and helping to reduce the airline's carbon footprint.

"We've been looking at is taking out the last ten rows of seats so we will have 15 rows of seats and the equivalent of ten rows of standing area," he said.

However, Civil Aviation Authority officials harbor doubts that the revolutionary new seats would pass safety rules.

"It's aviation law that people have to have a seat-belt on from take-off and landing so they would have to be in a seat. I don't know how Mr O'Leary would get around that one," said a spokesman.

Jetstar spokesman Simon Westaway said the airline would never contemplate vertical seating or charging passenger to use the bathroom.

“A lot of Jetstar destinations are over two hours and longer, so the stand up seating idea doesn’t register on our radar. We have a completely different business model to Ryanair,” he said.

“It’s an interesting concept but I can’t see how this would fly in our part of the world

“You have to question is this more for a headline or is Ryanair trying to carve out cost or revenue opportunities?

“To charge customers to use an amenity on an aircraft is just ridiculas and something Jetstar would never contemplate.”